


The seasons

by svevijah



Series: Future Starts Slow. [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Harry is not the goblin... yet, Lila is the Black Widow, crack ship in the sense that i probably was on crack while writing this, it's like the fault in our stars but uglier, that kind of first love that scars you for life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 12:46:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18873475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svevijah/pseuds/svevijah
Summary: It takes four seasons for Lila to get used to Harry's presence in her life.





	The seasons

**Author's Note:**

> What can I say my friends, it started as a joke with a friend from uni and actually became a thing. For Harry's background story I picked a bunch of things from the TASM2 story arc but mostly is headcanon-ed. One thing that I never said during the previous works is that I wasn't really on board with Ava's casting as Lila because I felt like she looked too different from the actresses who previously played Lila ( and also because that was such a nepotistic move tbh). For Lila's appearence I imagined Quinn Shephard to be quite fitting; for Harry, as I said in the previous work, I imagine him to be like Herman Tømmeraas. There's also a time gap of a couple of years and it's also quite past Far From Home, making Lila 16 and Harry 18.   
> This pairing is totally going nowhere, it's mostly for the laugh but with a bit of angst here and there :'')
> 
> fc references:  
> Lila: ( https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjos6rMnKXiAhWO2KQKHTUZDIQQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F384283780690235520%2F&psig=AOvVaw0oVodu133iGs7LlpBtkWFO&ust=1558273758847454 )  
> Harry: ( https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3c/80/69/3c806958cf874bc48c81bd8efd741885.jpg )

**SPRING**

It begins with Harry politely asking to walk her home in the middle of the night. It’s out of the blue and the grip on her batons loosens a little as she blinks in surprise. He doesn’t seem to notice though.

“I can walk to the dormitory by myself, you know.” She deadpans holding a baton higher in the air, as if to prove that she can take of herself and that’s way she’s worthier to _that_ title than anybody else.

“Yeah, ‘cause you’re the Black Widow and stuff, I know.” He says in a whisper and lets out a shaky breath. Lila raises a brow at his statement, and for a moment tries to catch glimpses of what’s going on in Harry’s complicated mind. She doesn’t like him and that’s a fact – maybe her judgement towards him has been a bit clouded by what Harley thinks of him, yet neither magazines and tabloids depict the future heir of Oscorp as a golden boy.

However, she tries to understand – something her mother would be proud to be aware of – and the contracted muscles on her face relax lightly at the thought that in the end, Harry’s just trying to be nice to her and the team, prove than he’s worthy of their trust and that he’s not like his father despite everything.

Letting out a soft sigh, Lila puts her batons in the closet that Shuri designed for her weapons and suit, and as she turns to face him again, her lips twitch in a small smile. “Okay.”

“Okay?” he echoes back and for the first time in two years, he seems to allow himself to display another emotion on his face that doesn’t vaguely look like annoyance.

As they get in his car, directed to Brooklyn, he gives her a smile and gestures to the radio. “You can pick a song for the ride if you want.” His tone is soft and polite, and Lila almost gives in to show a bit of compassion towards him. In the end, she silently turns her head the other side to watch the starry sky upon New York.

“You know, during the Decimation it was almost impossible to look at the sky.” He says dryly, receiving no response. “My roommate at boarding school used to say that heaven would fall on our heads at some point, but I found it quite stupid – my father was gone as well and I highly doubt he was worthy enough to be in Heaven, or whatever there’s next.”

Lila swallows lightly, keeping her gaze up and not saying a word, even though she’d have so much to say, like how they weren’t in Heaven for sure and how she wishes she’d be still there if it means her aunt gets to come back a live the life she deserved.

“My mom on the other side… she probably did. I mean, she’s dead for good and she’s been like that for a while like that by now,” He keeps saying as they end up in a queue of taxi cabs, and Lila almost ponders the idea to get out of the car and walk home. Pulling out her phone, she quickly taps on it to let Kate know she’ll probably be late. “but she was good, you know? Never understood why she married my father in the first place.”

“Love clouds judgement.” Lila says out of the blue in a raspy voice, and for a moment she almost breaks as she recalls that time Natasha jokingly told her so. “Also, love is for children. She probably wasn’t in love – maybe she just liked the lifestyle.”

Harry holds his breath for a second, and Lila can see his grip on the steering wheel tighten. “I’m sorry, that was rude.” She eventually says, and as she sees the school building, she lets out a relieved sigh. Harry shrugs, his gaze fixed on the road. “Whatever, it means nothing.”

“It means everything, actually.” She remarks quickly and for the second time in that night, Harry seems surprised again. “I’ve been holding grudges against you about every little thing, it’s quite dumb at this point considering you gave me a ride home and felt safe enough to talk about your family.”

“I didn’t talk about it to have pity from you, Lila.” He let out in a whisper and she stopped him. “It’s not pity, it’s being a decent human being and give credit when it’s due. Good night, Harry.” And before he can even say it back, she’s already getting in the building.

____________________

**SUMMER**

“Tony is turning in his coffin.” Harley says dryly as he gets up and crosses his arm. The idea to let the future CEO of Oscorp wear an armour suit designed by Stark Industries makes him roll his eyes in annoyance a lot lately, yet having another armour around is probably the best thing to protect the world.

“Steve Rogers as well, believe me.” Kate chimes in with a disgusted expression on her face as she sees the colours they picked for the suit. “Patrioteer sounds terrible, plus there’s already Captain America.”

“Let’s just throw an Iron before that and nobody will notice.” Harry remarked in a sarcastic tone as he tried moving around with his new suit. From across the corner, Lila was sitting at the workshop desk, cleaning her guns carefully.

“Hey Barton!” Harry called out, receiving a hum for answer. “What do you think?”

Keeping her head tilted down, she shrugs lightly. “White spoiled brat in a high-tech suit that looks like the American flag.” She begins in a fake interested tone. “What could possibly go wrong?”

As Shuri turns to point at her in agreement, a sonic blast hits the wall and tears a hole through it. “Alright let’s baby proof the gauntlets.” She finally says as the whole group turns to face an angry Happy on the verge of a breakdown from the other side of the wall.

“No but seriously, what do you think?” he asks again later at night after patrol, while driving her home for the thousand time in that year. Harry had picked it as a habit, and Lila learned not to be against it with all her strength.

“I already told you what I think about the suit.”

“Not really, actually.”

“Why don’t you just go to college like everybody, Harry?” she lets out in a high-pitched voice. “I mean, this is a terrible idea, and honestly, is your dad even okay with what you’re up to?”

“Who cares about him honestly?” he remarks in a confused tone. “He never gave a shit about me, why would telling him make a difference now?” as silence falls between them, Harry let out a loud sigh and pulled on the side of the road so that could face her.

“I’m not smart, I’m not driven by the love I have for something or somebody and honestly? I just want to be good and clear my name from the dumb shit my father put me through. If that means risking my life in one of Tony Stark’s suits then so be it.”

“Do you think it’s really just about what _we_ feel? Do you think that we do this because we want to be praised or something?” she questions, her voice is fierce and her expression stoic. “Do you think that I wanted my aunt dead and replace her when I know I’m not even already half the woman she was? It’s sorrow that makes us do that. And the desire to fucking give _justice_ to this messed up world.”

As tears begins rolling down her cheeks, Harry’s hand moves to cup one of them, his thumb gently brushing away the trail the tears left. They stay like that for a while, in silence, then Lila takes a sharp breath and pulls away.

“Tell me about her.” he says softly, and for a moment Lila is wary. Talking about Natasha would mean breaking a wall and letting him in – give him the same amount of trust that she gives to her friends. In the end, the make a pit stop to the nearest Mc Donald’s, and tells him the story of a Russian teenage that was given a second chance at life by an archer, and how that second chance turned her into the strongest Avenger who ever walked on earth.

____________________

**FALL**

Fighting against one bad guy comes quite easy when they’re all together but it can be said the same when the whole Sinister Six gang shows up and spreads fear in Times Square in plain day. They give their respective hundred percent in the fight and come back battered and bruised, but victorious nonetheless.

Once they’re back at the compound and everybody’s taking off their gear, Lila walks around checking if anybody needs help taking stuff off or to be stitched – then she finds Harry, sitting in a corner, slightly shivering and with worry in his eyes.

“You good?” she asks softly as one hand reaches for his shoulder. He doesn’t answer, and neither seems to notice she’s there as well. Sitting near him, her gaze falls on the greenish looking wound on his arm, and her brows line in a frown.

“How did you get this?” she asks, and then she asks again louder when she get no answer. Harry shakes his head as if woken up from a trance and an uncomfortable expression quickly covers his face. “It’s just… nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing though.” She replies without missing a beat as her hand moves closer to his arm and her fingers begin to trace other scars around the wound. “If you touched something during the fight we have to tell it to Shuri, so you gotta help me understand.”

Harry seems reluctant, his eyes getting teary as if silently pleading her not to make him talk. “It’s genetic – my father has it, and my grandfather and my great grandfather and so on.” He begins, his voice reduced in a whisper. “It begins at a young age, and takes over the whole body little by little. There’s no cure.”

“But maybe Shuri–“

“She can’t help me on this, Lila.” He interrupts her, waving her hand away with a disgusted expression hovering his face. “I’m this… thing. And I can’t fight it back. I can only wait for when it kills me. Nobody knows about it so please, keep it for yourself.”

Lila would like to quip that he can’t be sure that Shuri could not help him, that he should have told them or at least Peter about it and that she doesn’t want to bear the burden of knowing about his illness and doing nothing to save him. “You promise?”

She nods her head yes but her mind keeps screaming that _no_ , that’s not the right way. The days after that, her mood drastically drops and she can’t bring herself to look at him the same way as before – maybe she’s actually having pity of him as this point. She keeps letting him walk her home, and every night never misses the chance to hug him goodnight and tell him to text her when he’s back home as well.

“You know I’m not dying like, right now, right?” he asks one night, when she hugs him tighter than usual. Harry doesn’t mind it, but can’t help but think that if Lila hadn’t known about his illness, she wouldn’t be so keen on being nice to him, or subtly defending him whenever Harley say one too many harsh jokes about him.

“You can never know.” She mutters, her voice muffled by his jumper covering her mouth. Harry pulled away rolling his eyes exaggeratedly. “Don’t jinx it please, I kinda like this thing we’ve having going on lately.”

Lila laughs at his statement, but it drops suddenly when she realises that at some point none of it will happen anymore. As Harry noticed her sudden drop of mood, he lightly bumped his shoulders with hers. “Are you free tomorrow morning?” he asks as quick as he can and ends up regretting just as fast.

“What day is it tomorrow?” she asks, even though knowing well it’s a Sunday and yes, she’s more than free for whatever he’s got in mind.

“Sunday.”

“Okay. Why? You want to switch patrol or something?” she asks casually, a playful smile on her face. Harry shakes his head no, giving her a small smirk. “I was thinking more about brunch in Manhattan – or wherever else actually, I’m not picky.”

“Okay.”

____________________

**WINTER**

The day it happens they’re walking in Central Park and a bunch of kids are playing in the snow. Lila stops by a bench and watches them play, a smile on her face as she takes a sip from her coffee. Saying she’s not jealous of them would be a lie – she would give everything to go back to when things were easier. Her trail of thought stops the moment Harry slides by her side, puts an arm around her shoulders and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Lately there’s something weird about him that Lila can’t quite figure out. He blames it on his illness, wears clothes that cover him as much as they can, refuses to talk about it with the team and it tears her apart every day more to lie to them.

“What’s wrong?” he asks softly, and as she turns to face him, she can’t help but hold her breath. Harry’s face stiffens and Lila closes her eyes for a second that seemed infinite. “Lils, you here?”

“Do the neon green eyes come with the…” words die in her throat, so she just turns to face the kids again, a dull expression covering her face. Harry lets out a heavy sigh, silently pulling away.

“It happens when my body’s too much intoxicated with… whatever this thing is.” He explains quietly, not even expecting the girl to deal with his vague elucidation. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

His voice sounds scared for what she might say, and Lila has to remind herself to breathe in three times and breath out four before she dies on that bench. A part of her would like to tell him that _no_ , she’s not scared – for she’s way too familiar with the way a pair of sad eyes would glow of neon blue in the darkness of her house. The people she loves tend to be the weirdest, now that it comes to her mind.

“Please say something. Anything.”

“I’m not my mother, Harry. Or my aunt, for that matter.” She begins, taking a sharp breath. “I can’t and won’t stand here watching your eyes going wild because you don’t want anybody’s help to go through it – I’ve already dealt with this thing when dad was mind controlled and I refuse to relieve that shit all over again.”

“Are you breaking up?” his voice is calm and sad and makes it difficult for her to speak, but she tries nonetheless. “I like you. I really do. I know your not your father and I know I can trust you now… but you don’t want Shuri’s help, and I can’t keep this secret forever. I’m sorry.”

Before he can even speak, she’s already gotten up and walking as far away as she can from that bench.


End file.
